Ammunition making machinery



April 10, 1945. s, KUEHL 2,373,582

AMMUNITION MAKING MACHINERY Filed Nov. 10, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /7 l6/9 202/ 2223 24 2526 27 28 /l'll/Illllll /2--////////// WWJWHW 1 42 3445 WI 'j: 5- M /4 ,5

INVENTOR. fiaaauzs d. K 05/14 Ap 10, 1945. D. S. KUEHL 2,373,582

AMMUNITION MAKiNG MACHINERY Filed NOV. -l0, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 DRIVEINVENTOR. 5 v DOUGLAS J. K05

ATTORN R Patented Apr. 10, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- AMMUN YITIQNG MA HINER Douglas S. Kuehl, Reading, Mass 'assignor to Remington ArmsCompany,

no, Bridgeport,

Conn, a corporation of Delaware Application November 10, 1943, SerialNo. 509,814

7- Claims.

component at a station maybe caused by the component being grasped bythe forming toolQr die at a station so. that the component is not.carried to the next station by the transfer means. When this occurs,another piece may be carried. to said station and the tool, upon itsnext reciprocation, will carry a second componentintov the die with aresultant destruction or damage of the oo s 1' mach As a specificexample, the present device can be applied to a bullet assembly machine.The. other objects of the invention will appear from. the followingdescription and drawin s which are to be considered as merelillustrative and not limited.

Fig. 1 shows a front diagrammatic view of; a, bullet assembly machine.

2 is a p rspe i f a m ary View as a, component is being transferred tothe next station by 3 6 transfer means.

Fig. 3. is a fragmentary perspective viewof the. stop. means in itsoperative position when a component is. absent from the transfer meansand; after the forming tool has been reciprocated upwardly.

Fig 4 is a fragmentary perspective view after; a, component has beenremoved from the transfer means and the stop arm is held by the transferbar, the reciprocating forming tools being in their upper position.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a wiring sys-' tem whiQh may be used.

In Fig. l, the main frame of the machine s indicated at ill, with thevarious operating tools shown generally at H for performing a sequenceof operations upon the component. For example, in the assembly of smallarms armor piercing projectiles, the components are fed at the vars.ious stations and the tools perform the assembling; operations thereon.An armor piercing projectile, such as the caliber .50, may comprise ajacket. which is shaped from a cup fed to the machine, a core, and alead point for the core. These various elements are introduced into thema ne in ei p oper l ons nd, the too s. as emb e a d f t e urcie i c- Te tools l may be carried by the reciprocating means or gate l2 which isdriven by the motor IS. The nsf ba M ha des: Th tr ns a serves; to, movethebullet elements from left to right and under the various. tool or;operating stations, said bar being reciprocated bysuitable drivingconnections (not shown)- operated by the main dr v t n. srnchrcei m itthe te 52..- D e for the m ng o th omeme s be located underneath thetransfer means in the.

various holding blocks IE. Some of} these dies; may have ejectorsthereinto. raise the omponent, 1 v to. the level of the transfer bar. lhepunches. may also. have. ejection means therein which are automaticallyoperated to; eject the. articles from the; punch. The. precise detailsof the tools are immaterial and not a part of the. present inven tion.It is to be understood that various combinations and sequences may beused and that the bullet canv be assembled completely in one machine orthe operation may be performed in two. machines. an example, the toolsand stations from i! to 22 of Fig. i may serve to deliver the variouscomponentsv of the projectile and as.-. semble the same, and tools atstations 23 to 26 may be used for. shaping or tapering the DIOJBC-r tilan well-known manner. Station- 21 may be known as the correctionstation" where the heel closure and the projectile are brought. tocorrect length. .It is not desirable to have an ejector in the bottomdie at this station and there is. also a danger that the ejector in thetop punch ma break, thereby a low n p oiectile to become lodged in. thedie or punch. When this occurs, another projectile will be carried into.place under the correction punch and when the correction punch descendsin the next recipro-. cation, a jam or breakage will occur due to the.presence of the previous projectile at this station. At the correctionpunch station, the tapered heel forming portion of the reciprocatingpunch 27 will serve to draw the projectile upwardly out of the bottomfo-rming die.

The stop means of' the present invention serves. to inspect anddetermine whether or not the projectile has been carried upwardly withthe plunger out of the transfer means or remains in the forming dies,and if this occurs, to stop th machine. The transfer mechanismreciprocates a sub.- stantially horizontal plane and comprises thechannel shaped bar id'with legs 29 and 30'. The bar is guided inbearing-s I 5 having upstanding portions 3|, 32, and as. The specificform of the bearings or guides may be changed as desired. The transferbars carry suitable fingers 34 which are pivotally mounted in apertures35 in the transfer bar 4. Springs 35 may be located behind each of thetransfer fingers to allow pivotal action of the fingers as the transferbar moves to the left to engage the component at the preceding station.When the tools have been reciprocated downwardly so that each engagesone of the components being operated upon, the transfer bar may move tothe left so that each pair of fingers will grasp or be in a position tograsp the next succeeding component after the tool at the precedingstation has completed its operation and has reciprocated to its upperposition. The springs behind the transfer fingers allow the fingers topivot as they slide past the components or the tools, the components atthe moment being held as they" are being operated upon by their tools.After the reciprocating tools have been raised, the transfer bar movesto the right and thereby carries the components from each of thestations to the next succeeding station.

In Fig. 2, the transfer bar is shown as it is moving and carrying aprojectile 31 from under the correction punch 21 to the ejection punchstation 28,

In Fig. 4 the component 38 is shown located under the correction punch21 as the punch is descending. A 'stop switch such as a Microswitch orany other type switch, is located at 39. This switch has an operatingbutton which may be contacted by the pivoted lever 4|, said lever beingpivoted at 42. A spring 43 tends to rotate the stop lever 4| in aclockwise direction (Fig. 2) thus tending to move it against or towardthe button 40. When a projectile is in the transfer mechanism, saidprojectile will contact the pivoted arm 4| and hold the same away fromthe switch operator. As the transfer bar moves further to the right andtoward the ejection punch 23, the stud 45 will contact the pivoted arm4| (see Fig. 4), or contact will be made therewith after the end 46 ofthe operator 4| slides by projectile 38. As the transfer bar moves tothe left while the punches are moving downwardly to operate on thecomponents or eject the same, the pivoted arm 4| will move in aclockwise direction until it strikes the correction punch 21 or aprojectile 38 in the transfer means; Under normal operation, thecorrection punch will be contacted by the lever 4| and the transfer barwill continue to move to the left until the fingers are positioned underthe preceding station. The stud 45 will then be withdrawn from contactwith 4| so that when the punch 27 moves upwardly again, the absence ofaprojectile in the fingers will allow lever 4| to move in clockwisedirection and operate switch 39, such as shown in Fig. 3. The absence ofa projectile in the transfer bar may be the result of the projectilebeing carried upwardly by the punch 31 or remaining in the die under thetransfer bar. In either event, the absence of a projectile in thetransfer means will cause the switch 39 to be operated and thus stop themachine to prevent a second projectile being brought under the punch.

Referring to Fig. 5, the pivoted arm is shown at 4|, and plunger 40 withswitch diagrammatically indicated at 39. The switch 39 is normallyclosed and the circuit to the motor or control therefore energized. Itis to be understood, of

course, that other types of switching circuits may be used.

The present invention provides a stop means for stopping an ammunitionassembly machine when an ammunition component is absent from thetransfer bar and may be applied to various types of machines forassembling ammunition components.

The invention is not limited'to the details described and illustratedbut is to be construed to cover all equivalent devices falling withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an ammunition component assembly machine having an operatingstation: a tool at said operating station; driving means for themachine; reciprocating transfer means having component positioning meansthereon for transferring components to and from said station; a controlswitch for said driving means; an operator for said control switch;means on said transfer means to positively hold said operator fromcontacting said switch until said transfer means has returned from areciprocatory transfer movement and said tool is operating on thecomponent at the operating station; and means on said operator to urgethe same toward switch operating position to operate said switch to stopthe machine in the absence of a component for transfer away from saidoperating station.

2. In an ammunition component assembly machine having an operatingstation: means to operate on a component at said station; reciproeatingtransfer means having component positioning means thereon fortransferring components to and from said station; driving means for saidmachine; a control switch for said driving means; an operator for saidcontrol switch; means on said transfer means adapted to positively holdsaid operator from contacting said switch until after said means tooperate on a component has startedan operation thereon; and means tourge said operator to switch operating position to stop the machine inthe absence of a component in position in the transfer means after anoperation has been performed on said component.

3. In an ammunition component assembly machine having an operatingstation: a tool to operate on a component at said station; areciprocating transfer bar having component positioning means thereonfor transferring components to and from said station; driving means forsaid machine; a control switch for said driving means; an oscillatablepivoted operating arm for said control switch; means on said transfermeans adapted to positively holdsaid arm away from said switch untilafter said tool has started an operation on a component and is in aposition to hold said arm away from the switch; and yieldable means tooscillate said arm to switch operating position for stopping saidmachine in the absence of a component in the transfer bar after the toolhas operated on said component.

4. In an ammunition component assembly machine having an operatingstation: a reciprocating tool for operating on a component at saidstation; a reciprocating transfer bar having component holding means fortransferring components to and from said station; driving means for themachine; a control switch for said driving means; an oscillatablepivoted lever having one portion overlying the path of travel of acomponent in said transfer bar and one portion adapted to operate saidswitch; holding means on said transfer bar adapted to oscillate saidlever as the bar reciprocates to transfer a component away from saidstation, said holding means being located to allow operation of saidswitch by said lever in the absence of a component in the transfer barafter a reciprocation of said tool.

5. I11 an ammunition component assembly machine having a plurality ofoperating stations; a

reciprocating tool for operating on an component at one station thereof;a reciprocating. transfer bar having component positioning mean fortransferring components step by step from station to station; drivingmeans for said machine; a control switch for said driving means; anoscillatable pivoted lever having one portion overlying the path oftravel of components in said transfer bar away from said tool; holdingmeans mounted on said transfer bar adapted to hold said lever until saidtool has started a reciprocation and stands in the way of furthermovement of the lever; and means to urge said lever toward switchoperating position to stop said machine in the absence of a component inthe transfer means after a reciprocation of said tool.

6. In a bullet assembly machine having a plurality of stations; areciprocating transfer bar for moving components step by step fromstation to station, said bar having component positioning and graspingmeans thereon; a die at one of said stations; a reciprocating formingtool at said last mentioned station for carrying a component from thetransfer bar into said die; driving means for said machine; a controlswitch for said driving means; an oscillatable pivoted lever having oneportion overlying the path of travel of a component insaid transfer barand oscillatable by a component being transferred from said station; astud mounted on and reciprocable with said transfer bar, said stud beinglocated to hold said lever from switch operating position until saidtool has reciprocated into a position blocking the lever; and means tourge said lever toward switch operating position to stop the machine inthe absence of a component in the transfer means after a reciprocationof said tool away from said die.

'7. In a bullet assembly machine having a frame and a plurality ofoperating stations; a reciprocating transfer bar for moving componentsstep by step from station to station, said bar having componentpositioning and grasping means thereon; a die at one of said stations; areciprocating forming tool at said last mentioned station for carrying acomponent from the transfer bar into said die; driving means for saidmachine; a control switch for said driving means; an oscillatable leverpivoted on the frame adjacent said last mentioned station, one end ofsaid lever being located in the path of travel of a component in saidtransfer bar away from said station and the other end of said leverbeing adapted to operate said switch; a stud on said transfer bar forholding said lever from operating said switch until the forming tool hasreciprocated downwardly;

and a spring tending to rotate said lever to switch operating positionand operable in the absence of a component in the transfer bar aftersaid forming tool has moved upwardly.

DOUGLAS S. KUEHL.

